A Crown of Chains

by Erin Phillips

This palace is nothing more than a cage full of monsters.

It’s a secret that flirts with death as much as it whispers of life.

Ehyen, make him listen.

I stiffen at the thought as it sinks in. Is that what I was doing? Trying to make up for Owen’s death, as if Ehyen has any grace left for me after I’ve spent a lifetime ignoring Him?

“But maybe it’s not up to you. Perhaps Ehyen has placed you here for such a time as this, so that you do not need to do anything but have faith, and through you He will save the lives of many.”

“Tell that fairy to ask his people to put candles in their windows tonight, a window that faces the palace. And for them to pray for me.”

I sigh, closing my eyes as my head hangs low for a moment. I’ve been worried about my own survival for long enough. Maybe this is the only reason I have been allowed to survive. I open my eyes and stare hard at the doors in front of me. “If I die, I die.” And I pull the doors open.

“It wasn’t luck, Roxana. I had long thought that it was. Or perhaps that it was my own power that led to blessings. But it wasn’t ever either of those things.”

Maybe Ehyen had never forgotten me. Even when I was trying to run away, He was working out the pieces to perfectly fit into His plan.